Contrary to popular belief, either the Saskatchewan Roughriders or the Toronto Argonauts have to reach the win column this week. The two teams are both 1-6, but they’ll face off at Rogers Centre to determine who will take the upper hand for the CFL’s last postseason slot.

Is there anything that QB Darian Durant can do right at this point? He threw for 325 yards and two TDs last week and helped the Riders put up 35 points and 511 yards on the hated Calgary Stampeders. Yet three turnovers, the backbreaker of which was a 116 yard INT return for a TD was one of his three blunders on the game, and his team was beaten 45-35. The defense for the Roughriders is just downright atrocious. Calgary racked up 382 yards of offense and didn’t turn the ball over in Week 7, but its ‘O’ really did very little wrong as well. It wiped out a huge effort by RB Hugh Charles, who has taken over for RB Wes Cates. Charles had seven catches for 60 yards and two TDs and 11 carries for 94 yards and a score to boot in that one. Saskatchewan just doesn’t feel like it has gained its footing this year, and but this is a team that certainly has talent. Looking for some proof? Just check out that win at Percival Molson Stadium against the defending Grey Cup champs, the Montreal Alouettes.

Things for the Argonauts isn’t all that much better right now, as they are also 1-6 and have very few positives to point at. The good news though, is that QB Cleo Lemon is coming on strong and could be leading a suddenly competent offense. RB Cory Boyd came back into the fold this past week, and he had 73 rushing yards and a score to his credit. Lemon threw for 368 yard and three TDs, though most of that work came while trying to post a comeback against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Over his last two games since coming back from injury, Lemon has five TD passes against just one pick, numbers which are remarkable considering how badly he struggled over the first 20 or so games in his CFL betting career. The question mark, just like Saskatchewan, is the defense. Hamilton put together 391 yards of offense, which really negated that 506 yards that the Boatmen put up, and the 37 points allowed by Toronto really just seemed like it was par for the course for a team that has allowed over 30 points per game this season.

There are things to look forward to this year for Toronto. Lemon is definitely coming on strong, and this was a team that was supposed to struggle. Saskatchewan… Not so much. No, the Riders weren’t supposed to be Grey Cup contenders once again this year, but they were supposed to at least compete out West. In this one, we have to take the Argonauts -3 @ Bookmaker Sportsbook

Adam Markowitz

is a staff writer living in the Orlando area. He has covered NFL, MLB, college football, CFL, AFL, NBA, college basketball, NASCAR, golf, tennis, and the NHL for a number of various outlets in his career, and he has been published by a number of different media outlets, including the Orlando Sentinel and the Wall Street Journal.